Ohio State University Extension Bulletin

Native Plants of Ohio

Bulletin 865

Shrubs (1-25')

Creamy, white summer flowers are followed by white berries on eye-catching red pedicels. The pedicels provide winter interest in the landscape. Another similar species is Cornus drummondi. It has all the same attractions as C. racemosa, but tends to sucker less. Both species may be grown in shade or sun.

Scientific Name	Aralia spinosa	Aronia melanocarpa	Ceanothus americanus	Cephalanthus occidentalis
Common Name	devils-walkingstick	black chokeberry	New Jersey tea	buttonbush
Height	10-20'	3-5'	3-4'	3-15'
Ohio Distribution	south	widespread	east	widespread
Habitat	rocky pastures, open woods, wood borders, acidic, well-drained soils	acidic soils	dry, open woods, prairies, acidic soils	swamps, water margins, bogs
Features	Very low maintenance; adaptable. Does well in dry, rocky or moist, fertile soils. Purple fruits; coarse in winter; suckering; covered with prickles. (bd) (w)	Grows well in any environment from bogs to dry slopes; black fruit; suckering. (bd) (w)	Tolerates some shade and dry areas; low-growing. Requires acid soils. (bf) (hb)	Requires moist soil; tolerates standing water. Spherical, white flowers. *(bf)
Availability	trade	trade	trade	trade
Flower Season and Color/Fall Foliage Color	foliage: yellow, violet	foliage: red, violet	flower: summer; white	flower: summer; white

Scientific Name	Clethra alnifolia	Comptonia peregrina	Cornus amomum	Cornus racemosa
Common Name	sweet pepperbush	sweetfern	silky dogwood	gray dogwood
Height	3-8'	2-4'	6-10'	10-15'
Ohio Distribution	north	north	north, south	widespread
Habitat	swamps, moist woods	oak woods, pastures, roadsides	woods, water margins, swamp borders	swamps, sunny areas, open woods, wood borders, hilltops
Features	Fragrant flowers; tolerates shade and wet soil. Prefers acidic soils. (bf) (be)	Fern-like leaves are aromatic. Does well on sandy or infertile soils. Difficult to transplant. Do not disturb in the wild. (w) (bd)	Attractive, but short-lived blue fruits in late summer; does well in moist soil. Becomes open and straggly with age. (bd) (w)	Gray stems, pink-red pedicels add winter interest, white berries in fall. Tolerates shade and moist or dry soils. Suckering. (w)(bd)
Availability	trade	trade	trade	trade
Flower Season and Color/Fall Foliage Color	flower: summer; white foliage: yellow, brown			flower: spring; white foliage: red, violet

Scientific Name	Cornus sericea	Corylus americana	Diervilla lonicera	Dirca palustris
Common Name	redosier dogwood	American filbert	dwarf bush-honeysuckle	leatherwood
Height	7-9'	6-12'	3-5'	3-6'
Ohio Distribution	northeast	widespread	northeast	south
Habitat	swamps	roadsides, moist woods, dry, rocky slopes, prairie borders	open woods, wood borders	moist, fertile woods
Features	Bright red branches in winter. Suckering. Adaptable; good for erosion control. *(w)	Showy 1.5-3" long male catkins in early spring. Spreads to form large, dense colonies. (w) (bd)	Low, spreading shrub with flowers in clusters of three; turns dull red in fall; grows in any soil including rocky, sandy or clay. Shade tolerant. Adaptable.	Dark, glossy leaves; flowers early spring. Best in moist shaded area with deep, humusy soil.
Availability	trade		trade
Flower Season and Color/Fall Foliage Color	foliage: violet	foliage: yellow, orange	flower: summer; yellow foliage: red	foliage: yellow

Scientific Name	Gaylussacia baccata	Hydrangea arborescens	Ilex verticillata	Lindera benzoin
Common Name	huckleberry	smooth hydrangea	common winterberry	spicebush
Height	3-4'	3-5'	6-10'	6-12'
Ohio Distribution	east, northwest	south	widespread	widespread
Habitat	dry acidic woods, bogs, openings with sandy soil	moist, fertile, shady areas	swamps, wet woods, acidic soils	fertile, moist woods
Features	Spreads to form colonies. Black berries in late summer. *(w)	Shade tolerant; showy 4-6" flower disks. Cut back annually for best results. Does well on acid or alkaline soil.	Bright red persistent fruits add winter interest; tolerates wet or dry sites; prefers acidic soils. Male and female plant required for fruit. (bd) (w)	All parts of plant aromatic. Bright red fruits in fall. Adapts to variety of exposures and soils. (bf-l) (bf) (w) (bd)
Availability	trade	trade	trade	trade
Flower Season and Color/Fall Foliage Color	flower: spring; red	flower: summer; white		flower: spring; yellow foliage: yellow

Scientific Name	Myrica pensylvanica	Physocarpus opulifolius	Potentilla fruticosa	Rhododendron nudiflorum (or R. periclymenoides)
Common Name	northern bayberry	common ninebark	bush cinquefoil	pinxter flower
Height	6-9'	5-10'	1-4'	2-6'
Ohio Distribution	northeast	widespread	scattered	southcentral
Habitat	beaches and bogs, water margins; acidic soils	sandy or rocky banks, bogs, limestone cliffs	wet meadows, bogs, shores	open woods, oak woods, swamps
Features	Gray-white waxy berries persist in winter. Grows on sandy or infertile soils. Salt-tolerant.	Red fruits in fall, exfoliating bark. Adapts to acid or alkaline soils, dry or wet sites. *(w)	Tolerates wet, dry, infertile and alkaline soils. Flowers best in full sun.	Tolerates wet or dry sites, prefers acid soils; fragrant, showy flowers. Do not disturb in the wild! (hb) (bf)
Availability	trade	trade	trade	trade
Flower Season and Color/Fall Foliage Color		flower: spring; white	flower: summer; yellow	flower: spring; pink

Scientific Name	Rhus aromatica	Rosa carolina	Rosa palustris	Rosa setigera
Common Name	fragrant sumac	Carolina rose	swamp rose	prairie rose
Height	2-4'	3-6'	3-7'	3-4'
Ohio Distribution	scattered	widespread	widespread	widespread
Habitat	dry or rocky woods, hills	dry, open woods, hills, prairies, swamp borders	swamps, wet ditches and shallow streams.	prairies
Features	Tolerates dry, infertile soils, partial shade or sun; aromatic leaves; red fruit. Spreading plant creates fast cover. (w) (bd)	Single 2.5" pink flowers, red hips; suckering. *(w)	Minutely serrated leaves, curving thorns; flowers 1.5-2.5". *(w)	Large, spreading shrub for planting on banks; single 2" flowers.
Availability	trade
Flower Season and Color/Fall Foliage Color	flower: spring; yellow foliage: orange, red, violet	flower: summer; pink foliage: red	flower: summer; pink	flower: summer; pink foliage: red, yellow, orange

Scientific Name	Rubus odoratus	Spiraea tomentosa	Staphylea trifolia	Symphoricarpos albus
Common Name	flowering raspberry	steeplebush	American bladdernut	common snowberry
Height	8-10'	2-4'	10-15'	3-6'
Ohio Distribution	east	northeast, southcentral	widespread	south, northeast
Habitat	moist or rocky, shaded slopes	meadows, old fields, infertile low areas	shady, dry, rocky wood borders	woods, dry, disturbed land, limestone and clay
Features	Large, fragrant flowers, deep green foliage, red fruit. Shade tolerant. (bf) (bd) *(w)	Dense, steeple-shaped 2-3" long flower clusters. (bf-l) (bd)	Upright, dense shrub with striped bark; prefers shade and moisture. Suckering. *(w)	Best in shaded, moist or dry soils; white berries persist into winter; adaptable. Suckering. (w) (bd)
Availability	trade	trade		trade
Flower Season and Color/Fall Foliage Color	flower: summer; violet	flower: summer/autumn; pink		flower: summer; pink

Scientific Name	Vaccinium angustifolium	Vaccinium corymbosum	Viburnum cassinoides
Common Name	lowbush blueberry	highbush blueberry	witherod viburnum
Height	1-2'	6-12'	5-6'
Ohio Distribution	northeast	northeast	northeast
Habitat	dry, sandy or rocky uplands	bogs, swamps, water margins, dry oak woods	swamps, wet woods, acidic soils
Features	Spreads to 2' and forms dense colonies. Blue-green summer foliage. Does well in dry, acidic, infertile soils; shade and flood tolerant. Sweet berries. (w) (bd)	Dark green foliage and excellent fall color. Dark blue berries; susceptible to chlorosis in alkaline soils. (w) (bd)	Dense shrub with 2-5" flower clusters and attractive fruits that change from green to pink to red to blue to black. Emerging leaves are tinted with bronze or purple. (w) (bd)
Availability	trade	trade	trade
Flower Season and Color/Fall Foliage Color	flower: spring; white foliage: red	flower: spring; white foliage: yellow, orange, red	flower: spring; white foliage: orange, red, violet

KEY: = RED denotes plant is toxic to humans. Features: *(x) = a food or cover benefit for...*(bf) = butterflies, *(bf-l) = butterfly larvae, *(w) = wildlife; *(bd) = songbirds; *(be) honeybees; *(hb) = hummingbirds. "Do not disturb in the wild." = plant is endangered (!!), threatened (!), or potentially threatened (.)

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